CVE-2006-6697 in Application Server Portal
Summary
by MITRE
CRLF injection vulnerability in webapp/jsp/calendar.jsp in Oracle Portal 10g and earlier, including 9.0.2, allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary HTTP headers and conduct HTTP response splitting attacks via CRLF sequences in the enc parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/13/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-6697 represents a critical CRLF injection flaw within Oracle Portal 10g and earlier versions including 9.0.2. This security weakness exists in the webapp/jsp/calendar.jsp component and enables remote attackers to manipulate HTTP headers through the injection of carriage return line feed sequences in the enc parameter. The flaw stems from insufficient input validation and sanitization of user-supplied data, particularly within the parameter handling mechanism that processes calendar-related requests. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-113 as "Improper Neutralization of CRLF Sequences in HTTP Headers" and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1190 for "Exploit Public-Facing Application" and T1071.004 for "Application Layer Protocol: DNS" in its exploitation vectors.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability allows attackers to inject malicious CRLF sequences into HTTP headers, which can be leveraged to execute HTTP response splitting attacks. When the vulnerable application processes the enc parameter containing CRLF characters, it fails to properly sanitize or encode the input before incorporating it into HTTP response headers. This enables attackers to inject additional HTTP headers or manipulate existing ones, potentially leading to various malicious outcomes including cross-site scripting attacks, session hijacking, or cache poisoning. The injection occurs at the application layer where the calendar.jsp component fails to validate that user input does not contain potentially dangerous sequences that could alter the HTTP response structure.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple header injection, as it provides attackers with a pathway to conduct sophisticated web application attacks that can compromise user sessions and data integrity. Response splitting attacks enabled by this vulnerability can allow attackers to inject malicious content into web responses, potentially redirecting users to malicious sites or stealing session cookies. The vulnerability affects Oracle Portal installations that have not been patched, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where Oracle Portal serves as a central component for web applications and portal services. Organizations utilizing these older versions face significant risk as the vulnerability can be exploited without requiring authentication or specialized knowledge beyond basic web application attack techniques.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2006-6697 should prioritize immediate patching of affected Oracle Portal installations to the latest security updates provided by Oracle. Organizations must implement proper input validation and sanitization mechanisms that prevent CRLF sequences from being processed within HTTP headers, particularly in parameters like enc that handle user-supplied data. The implementation of web application firewalls and security monitoring systems can help detect and prevent exploitation attempts by monitoring for suspicious CRLF patterns in HTTP requests. Additionally, network segmentation and access controls should be enforced to limit exposure of vulnerable applications to untrusted networks, while regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other components of the Oracle Portal ecosystem. Security teams should also consider implementing proper header encoding and validation practices across all web applications to prevent similar issues from occurring in other parts of the infrastructure.